Champagne, lace and barstools
by BikerChick101
Summary: ***Spoiler*** this fic was written after I watched the promo for 5x24, its an NS oneshot, "They knew it would come full circle, they just had to wait" please review


**First I dont own Gossip Girl if I did I wouldnt destroy it like the writers are doing right now**

**Ok now that thats out of the way I need to tell you that this story has spoilers for the finale because its basically my retaliation to the nonsense that I saw in the promo, please don't read if you like Dan, I'm not very nice to Blair either but its not as bad**

**There is a swear word in here so I'm not sure if I should change this to M please let me know this story is fine rated T or if I should change it, enjoy**

* * *

"Oh god, oh God," Serena said leaning on the wall and sinking down, she covered her face with her hands as her body slid to the floor on its own accord. Her hair was a mess and her make-up smudged, she was still a little tipsy from the tequila shots and her dress was only zipped as high as her hands could reach but she still felt exposed to the world.

"You bitch," Blair screamed. "You were supposed to be my best friend Serena but no best friend does this."

"B I'm so sorry," Serena said standing again and Blair put a hand up to tell her not to say anything else.

"No you're not, you said sorry once and I _forgave_ you," Blair said taking a step closer to Serena and swallowed hard. "You do not get to say sorry again, I will never forgive you for this."

"You don't even love him," Serena said and Blair slapped her taking a step away from her and taking a deep breath. Serena touched her cheek and held her breath so that her tears stayed put.

"You wouldn't know," Blair screeched pointing at her. "Every time I brought up my feelings for him you shut down and I stopped talking about it because it hurt you."

"Yes B, it hurt me," Serena said and Blair set her mouth in a straight line.

"Don't you ever call me that again," she said dangerously. "We are not best friends anymore and as far as I'm concerned we aren't even friends, you mean nothing to me, I want you out of my house before I get back there."

"I'm not the only one wrong in this," Serena said shaking her head. "He was there as well and you both knew my feelings, you knew it when you started the relationship and you didn't care."

"If I didn't knock over that vase when I was leaving the room you wouldn't have stopped," Blair said lifting her head up and tilting her nose, something she used to do when her minions were in front of her to show them that she is and always will be higher and better than they are. "You would have gone all the way, looks like we're even."

"I would have stopped, I didn't do this to get even with you," Serena said, there were tears in her eyes and her voice was close to cracking. "I couldn't go through with it Blair, I was going to stop it, you just walked in a second too early."

Blair's hand came out of nowhere and slapped her again, "Liar," she said breathing heavily.

"Blair what the hell are you doing," Nate asked, his eyes wild and panicked when he saw the girls in front of him. He rushed over to Serena's side to check if she was ok, she just nodded at him so he turned his attention back to Blair for an explanation.

"Yes take her side like you always do," Blair said laughing dryly, scaring Nate. "The last time this was you Nate and Serena you are _always_ going to be the mistress, no man is ever going to love you because you are cheap and easy and always second best, just look at you, Nate's loved you forever and even he will never forgive you for this."

"Blair that's enough," Nate said warningly, he's seen their fights over the years and he knew that it always ended with them ripping each other to shreds before putting each other together again, each time they'd lose a little more of the bond they once shared.

"It will never be enough," Blair said shaking her head. "Nothing will ever make up for what you've done."

"I'm not the only one who's made mistakes," Serena said blinking back her tears but not fast enough. "I'm sorry I hurt you but it didn't go far, I promised you I wouldn't do that to you again and I swear I wasn't going to."

"And what exactly would have stopped you?" Blair asked. "He certainly wasn't going to, you will never be happy until you have everything that I have, who's next, Chuck? Oh no wait, you've probably already fucked him."

Nate didn't know what to say, he just stood there in shock, neither of them noticing his presence as he tried to piece together the reason for this fight, he was sure they were talking about Serena and Dan but Serena wouldn't do anything to hurt Blair, especially not now when they've just reached a good place in their friendship.

"Fine, if you want a fight I'll give it to you," Serena said softly wiping her eyes and putting on her queen face just like Blair had. "You were going to run away with Chuck before your wedding or don't you remember, you lost your _baby_ and you barely blinked twice, you made a ridiculous pact with God that 'saved' Chuck's life but you and I both know that you used that as an excuse to hide your feelings for him because you were afraid he'd hurt you, he didn't deserve any of the crap that you've put him through this year."

Blair opened her mouth to retort but Serena shut her up by speaking over her.

"I told you I still had feelings for Dan and you set us up, you made me think he still had some kind of feelings for me but you never took any of my feelings into consideration when you kissed him in front of me," Serena said clenching her jaw. "You suddenly realized you 'loved' him and you wanted to try out a relationship with him and you broke Chuck's heart never mind mine and now you're playing with both of them."

"You have no right to judge me when you did the same thing to Nate and Dan last year," Blair said gesturing to Nate. Nate stood there in silence watching Serena for her response, hoping neither of them ask for his input because there was no way he was going to step into this until he absolutely had to.

"I never strung them along like you did with Chuck I was never cruel enough to tell either of them I loved them and then chose the other," Serena said shaking her head. "Whatever happened with me last year is nothing compared to what's happening now, you cannot have both Dan and Chuck, you're using them so you either play it safe with Dan or you take a risk with my brother."

"You do realize that both of them are your brothers," Blair said and Serena narrowed her eyes at Blair. "None of what you're saying can excuse what you just did…. Or almost did."

"It didn't go further than kissing, it wasn't going to go any further," Serena said as calmly as she could. "But you are still making them both believe that you are this saint and that you love them, it wouldn't surprise me if you didn't love either of them and you just wanted see who would fall at your feet faster."

"Don't you dare," Blair said lunging for her only to be stopped by Nate who grabbed her and held her by the waist. "Let me go Nate."

"No," he said shaking his head and puling Blair as far away from Serena as he could get her without actually moving his feet. "I don't care how huge this fight is, you are both more mature than catfights in the Empire halls."

"It's not like anyone would see it," Blair said huffing and shrugging him off. "This floor is still part of Chuck's personal suites."

"I don't care who see's," Nate said quickly staying in the middle of both girls knowing that he was now the only thing keeping them from ripping each other's hair out, this makes him feel fourteen again. "You both are upset for whatever reasons," he said and both girls glared at him. "But you were both also wrong and trying to kill each other isn't going to help anyone."

"Blair," Dan said from behind them and everyone froze and turned to look at him. He straightened out his clothes and seemed to have brushed back the bush of hair on his head to look neat again and was now standing in front of them looking at Blair with a pleading expression on his face.

"That's it," Serena said behind him and he turned to look at her. "I'm done."

Nate watched her back away from them and turned to Blair and Dan, Blair had what he could only describe as a smug look on her face and Dan didn't even seem to care that Serena was leaving, he only cared that Blair was in front of him. "Enjoy your talk," Nate said shaking his head and going in the direction Serena went.

He knew she didn't leave the floor so he went to the first room he saw, the door was left open probably because she was hoping that someone cared enough to go after her. He wasn't the someone she wanted but if Dan wasn't going to go after her someone else had to.

She was leaning over the sink in the bathroom when he walked in, just staring down at the running water with her hair covering her face like a curtain. Her shoes were discarded at the bathroom door and her dress was open, the zip half way done, black lace covering parts of her skin.

Nate walked forward slowly and reached out to stop the water from flowing before he unzipped her dress the rest of the way and pulled her straps down wordlessly letting it pool at her ankles and handing her a robe, she held the robe in her hands and looked at him through the mirror with tears in her eyes and thanked him softly. She didn't want to be in the dress anymore, she just couldn't take it and thankfully he understood that, she'd probably burn it instead of hiding it in her cupboard at home like she did once before.

Unexpectedly Serena turned into Nate and buried her face in his chest, Nate didn't know what to do so he just held her as the sobs racked her tiny body. She was mumbling something against his chest and he had to listen really closely to know that she was saying 'sorry', repeating it over and over again. He knew he wasn't the one she was supposed to be apologizing to but he was guessing that Blair didn't want her apologies.

She was still in her underwear, the lace felt strange under his fingers like a memory long forgotten but the feeling still familiar, it had been so long since he touched her. She was still whispering apologies into his chest when she stopped crying, holding onto him like he was her lifeline and for that moment he probably was.

Chuck walked into the room then and set his eyes on the couple, raising a questioning eyebrow to Nate as he walked forward toward them. Nate shrugged slightly and pried the bathrobe out of Serena's hands so he could use it to cover her scantily clad body. After a moment Serena picked her head of Nate's chest and wiped her eyes before drawing the robe tighter around her to cover herself even though both boys had seen her in less.

"You missed my father's grand entrance back into society," Chuck told them breaking the silence they were in. "Lily's trying to make sense of it and I need a break from everyone."

"I'm sorry," Serena whispered again and Nate looked at her worriedly before turning back to Chuck.

"I would have come down sooner but," Nate said trailing off and gesturing to Serena being the reason he didn't go back down to the party and Chuck nodded understandingly.

"I walked past Blair and Dan on the way here," Chuck said looking away with a hurt expression on his face and Serena covered her mouth with her hand. "They were in this floors' private bar room, I don't think I want to know what they were doing."

Nate opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Serena's sudden movement next to him, she rushed to the toilet to empty the contents of her stomach into the bowl, Nate rushed over to hold her hair back and Chuck filled a glass with water holding it out to her when she was done.

"I have to get back down, I came up to see if maybe I could talk to Blair and check what was taking you so long," Chuck said, he wasn't sure if he should leave when Serena looked like she did but he also knew that he needed to get back to his father and Nate could handle her, he always could. "You'll be ok?"

"Yeah," Nate said nodding. Chuck turned and left the room, Nate frowned as he helped Serena to the bedroom so they could sit on the bed instead of the floor, it just seemed as if she wasn't with him, the only thing she'd said since they got into this room was that she was sorry and he didn't know what to make of it. "S what happened?"

Serena bit her lip and looked up at him she took a deep breath and started to tell him what happened. "Blair had a moment with Chuck," she began and Nate nodded not at all surprised because Blair had been staying close to Chuck since they got together to decipher Diana's day planner, that was probably the reason his best friend wanted to talk to her when he came up. "Dan was upset and I was there, so we did shots and I asked him to unzip my dress and one thing led to another."

Nate at patiently and listened to Serena's story but all he wanted to do was go over to Dan and punch him in the face for making her cry.

"I pushed him away when I realized what was happening but it was too late because Blair had already seen us and she was so angry," Serena said rubbing at her face. "I'm so sorry Nate."

"Serena I don't understand why you are apologizing to me," Nate said, looking at her. "You didn't hurt me this time."

"You're the reason I stopped," she said pressing her lips together as tightly as possible. "You're the reason I couldn't go through with it."

Nate stared at her with his mouth hanging open because "Why would I be the reason you didn't sleep with Dan?" he asked thinking back to everything that had happened that year they were not romantically involved in any sense of the word they were getting closer as friends definitely but he couldn't think of a reason that would stop her.

"I was sitting on the bar counter, he was on a barstool," Serena said looking away from him and Nate took a sharp breath because oh, that's why. "I kept having flashbacks to high school, to the Shepard wedding, to champagne and you and me and an empty bar and it was too much for me, I couldn't be with Dan, not there."

Nate didn't know what to say, memories of the day he lost his virginity came rushing back to his mind, to the champagne spilling all over them, to her long legs spinning her on the bar counter, to her gold dress shimmering in the afternoon sun, to her legs wrapped around him and his hands tangling in her hair, getting to touch her like he'd wanted to for so long and the feeling of the lace she wore then beneath his fingers, to the sweet taste of her kisses and the feeling of being inside her for the first time. Barstools and empty bars and sex was their thing together, they could never do it with another person no matter what. The rush of emotions he got from the memory startling him.

"I'm sorry," she whispered again biting down on her lip.

Nate was still in shock, that's why she keeps apologizing because she almost ruined the very thing that they were built upon, what really started and ended the adolescent Nate and Serena and paved the way for the adult Nate and Serena to be together. He almost feels the need to scream at her because she should have known better that to do that to Blair again but he was once in Dan's position and he could never resist Serena van der Woodsen, the only difference was that he didn't completely disregard or use her before they slept together like Dan had.

"Say something," Serena said softly, her voice hoarse from all the crying and screaming at Blair and throwing up, her eyes were panicked as she waited for his reaction because she didn't know how he'd react.

"I don't know what to say," Nate said standing up and running a hand through his hair. "Dammit Serena that night…." He began not knowing where he was going with this sentence or if he even wanted to bring that up again because she almost destroyed _their_ memory, he took a breath and swore. "That's why Blair was so angry with you."

"I didn't mean to hurt her again," Serena said desperately, shaking her head because she really didn't, it just happened so fast. "She doesn't believe me and I know it looks bad but Nate you have to believe that I never wanted to hurt her, I stopped it got too far."

"I believe you," Nate said taking a deep breath. "I just … Why? Why did you and Dan happen when you knew they were together?"

"I still had feelings for Dan when they started dating and she knew that but she didn't care and I didn't like it but I respected that they had a relationship because she's my best friend," Serena said shrugging, thinking about how similar that statement feels to what she said when they were kids. "And then she abandoned him because Chuck needed her and today she abandoned him and I was there."

"Serena why do you still want to be with Dan?" Nate asked siting back next to her. "I mean I just don't understand it, as far as I know Dan hasn't even mentioned you when we spoke, he only ever spoke about Blair, it's why I didn't really believe you when you told us you guys were dating."

"I know," Serena said softly pushing her hair out of her face. "He doesn't care, the only reason he was with me at all this year was because he was upset with Blair, since I came back from LA he's just been acting like we never had anything, he's used me to get close to Blair and he led me on just so he could talk to her about us."

"Serena you can't do this, you deserve better than Dan," Nate told her and Serena nodded, tears falling from her eye's again. "Don't cry," he whispered wiping her eyes.

"I don't know how to stop Nate," she said her voice cracking because she hates how wrong she feels right now. "It's like I can't get over him no matter how hard I want to," she said and Nate felt jealousy swirl around in his chest but he crushed it before it took over him because Serena was his friend, Lola was his girlfriend.

"You have to," he said taking her hand in his. "You and Dan are over, after this I don't think there's any way that he still has feelings for you and you need to realize that and move on."

Serena nodded absentmindedly, in her mind she kept going back to what she almost did and the parallels between the nights, the reason she was able to stop Dan and not Nate. "Blair hates Brooklyn, she lives in one of the most expensive apartments in the Upper East Side, she has secrets and she lies and she manipulates and she does all these things and he still loves her, when he hated me for it," Serena said because she just had to get that out.

It's everything she'd been thinking for a while, she and Blair grew up with basically the same things, she was the party girl and Blair was the schemer, they had the same privileges and they both lived in this superficial world, it was the main reason that she and Dan fought, it was the reason they broke up. He couldn't handle everything she had and how people treated her for being Serena van der Woodsen but he changed his views so he could be with Blair yet Serena still loved him, how pathetic was she?

"He's never appreciated you," Nate said summing up her words and Serena closed her eyes, holding back all the tears she knew wanted to come spilling out. "I think that he's changing so he can adapt to her."

"Why couldn't he do that for me?" Serena asked. "Why was I not worth the effort?"

"You are always worth the effort S," Nate told her and she smiled sadly at him. "It's his loss that he didn't figure it out but it's up to you to make him see that."

"I did the same thing to you, didn't I?" Serena said and Nate looked at her with confusion in his eyes. "Oh Natie, I took you for granted and I never appreciated you."

Nate smiled and shook his head. "We were everything I could have ever dreamed of, even if we didn't work out like I thought we would," Nate told her squeezing her hand. "We weren't ready for us but there's always a someday right."

Serena touched his cheek and nodded. "I'm so sorry," she said again and Nate shook his head.

"Stop apologizing for things that were beyond your control," he said even though he knew how in control she was for most of the things that happened during their relationship. He'd never stop protecting her no matter how many times she hurt him, how pathetic was he?

"Do you hate me?" Serena asked after a length of silence.

"No, why would you think that?" Nate asked and Serena sighed.

"It's what Blair said earlier, she said that you'd hate me when you found out what I did," Serena said swallowing.

"I know what you did and I don't hate you ok?" Nate said and Serena nodded. Nate frowned because how could she ever even think that he'd hate her, she was still and will always be perfection in his eyes. "Do you want me to find you another dress?"

Serena shook her head no, she wasn't going to leave this room for a while. "You should get back to Lola before Blair tells her about what happened," Serena said.

"Lola's with Ivy, they're bonding with some of the Julliard alums downstairs," Nate said rolling his eyes. "I won't be missed."

"Thank you," she said giving him a hug. "I don't know what I would do without you."

"Even if Blair never talks to you again, you'll always have Chuck and I," Nate reminded her, stroking her hair. "As much as Chuck loves Blair, if he believes you're right you know he'll be on your side."

"I know," Serena said giving him a smile when she pulled away. "I never thanked you for taking Gossip Girl away from me."

Nate chuckled, he wasn't sure if Serena would ever speak to him after that, she was so obsessed with Gossip Girl and taking over her that she was getting to the point where she didn't care who she destroyed. "Someone had to."

"And for defending me when Lola accused me of being Gossip Girl even though I was," Serena said biting her lip and shrugging because she thinks maybe that was a reason for their break-up. Thinking about it she didn't know anyone in all the guys that she dated or the friends that she had who would believe in her as much as Nate does, who would take her word over their girlfriends, she didn't know anyone in their world and even those not part of their world (read: Dan) who would be that loyal to their friends.

"I know who you are and the Gossip Girl site was turning you into someone else," Nate told her. "Even if it cost me the Spectator and having to deal with Diana every day, I would have still done that because you deserve better than to become what you hated."

Serena smiled and looked down, Nate was too good, he was the only person who really hadn't succumb to the pressure of the Upper East Side, he schemed when he needed to but it was always to help his friends it was never for revenge or to hurt people.

"Hey," Serena said after a long time, looking up at Nate with a mischievous smile. "Do you want to steal a bottle of champagne and get drunk in the empty bar?"

"You know that still sounds like a good idea," Nate said and they both burst out laughing because he knows she's joking and if he remembers correctly that's what she asked him when they were fifteen and way too bored at a wedding. "Although I think maybe we should wait for the next wedding, weddings are more fun."

It took them a while before they could get out of that room, Serena stayed close to Nate's side because she couldn't face Blair or Dan. Nate got her home to the Waldorf penthouse and helped her pack her things before taking her to Lily and Rufus' apartment, she figured she'd get a place as soon as she could but for now she'd live in her old room or Erik's old room it didn't matter as long as she steered clear of Blair until the girl calmed down which Serena didn't predict happening very soon.

* * *

It was barely a week of cold looks and snide remarks before Blair and Dan packed their bags and went to Rome, Serena didn't know whether to be angry that they didn't break up and that Dan wasn't with her or relieved because she knew she needed this distance to really get over Dan and she wouldn't have to deal with Blair's cold shoulder anymore.

"Sis," Chuck greeted giving her a smile. "To what do we owe this pleasure."

Serena smiled because he says it like she isn't in their suite every morning and sometimes afternoon, "I'm hungry so breakfast?"

Chuck laughed and gestured to the spread on the table pulling out a chair for her to sit. "Nathaniel's still in the shower," Chuck said and Serena nodded and crinkled her nose because she has been spending too much time with Nate since he helped her but that didn't mean that she only went there to see him, Chuck was as much her brother as Erik was.

"I figured," she said picking at her fruit. "I need to apologize to you."

"You've been doing that a lot lately," Chuck said raising an eyebrow and taking a sip of his coffee.

"I've been making a lot of mistakes lately," Serena said shrugging. "I'm the reason Blair left with Dan and I know how much you love her and I just wish you didn't get hurt because of her wanting to spite me."

"Sis as much as you want to believe Blair chose Dan to get back at you for getting drunk with him in an empty bar," Chuck said and Serena looked at him confused because he looked amused. "She left because I turned her down, that night she came to me with the ring and asked that we reconcile and I said no."

"Why?" Serena gasped, almost two years ago Chuck was going to propose to Blair and he almost dies trying to protect the ring in Prauge.

"Because with my father back I realized that I need to establish myself outside the relationships and Gossip Girl and in the business world," Chuck said. "No one is going to take me seriously if I get married or even engaged at 21 to someone who has been in and out of the media the way she has, it certainly won't help me fight my father to keep the Empire."

"Wait what does Bart have to do with the Empire?" Serena asked.

"It's complicated and once I have it all figured out I will be sure to let you know," Chuck said smirking. "As for Blair, she would have held me back, made this more difficult, maybe in a few years when I have done all I need to the we can think about it, until then I have to believe that I did the right thing by turning her away."

"Here's to hoping," Serena said raising her coffee cup to him and Chuck shook his head but did the same.

Nate came out of his room then dressed in his usual suit for work, he smiled at them and took a seat at the end of the table. "So, who wants to go watch movies with me?"

Serena and Chuck both stopped eating and stared at him like he was alien.

"Is there something on my face?" Nate asked, after his lacrosse accident landed him with a bust lip he'd been very conscious about his face.

"No, doesn't Lola usually do the 'go to the movies' thing with you?" Serena asked.

"She and Ivy are busy for the rest of the week," Nate said. "Some acting thing."

"You could put a little more effort into finding out what 'acting thing' it is," Chuck said and Nate shrugged like it didn't really matter.

Chuck and Serena shared a confused look while Nate got up to make his coffee, even Chuck didn't know why Nate wasn't making an effort anymore. Two weeks later they found out that Nate and Lola broke up again mutually, they were drifting apart literally and figuratively, Lola was moving to LA to further her acting career and Nate didn't want to leave New York and his life here, neither wanted to try long distance so they ended it.

* * *

Serena decided that the best thing for Nate to do was help her find an apartment, after everything that happened with Blair kicking her out of the penthouse she decided that even if they do become friends again she needs to be on her own, she needs to be more independent. She finds an apartment close to the Empire, it's small and has a beautiful view of the city, she can't do the independence thing because Nate basically moves in with her, he gets bored because Chuck is barely at the Empire anymore and he hates being alone, since he doesn't want to date just yet there isn't a girl to keep him occupied for the first time in years so Serena becomes his go to girl when he isn't at work or on campus.

Since it was summer and she was still a little depressed about Dan and he was getting over Lola, she lets him drag her out for ice-cream in the middle of the night and to the beach when he got off work early and decided she needed to stop moping and leave the house, Nate was good for her, she felt herself letting go off Dan and her crazy obsession with him, hopefully it lasted when he was back in the city.

"Dan and Blair are back," Nate mentions casually as they watch a movie at her place one night and Serena stiffens visibly. "They got back last night."

"You're telling me this now, why?" Serena asks trying as hard as she can not to sound rude but she can't help the venom that slips out.

Nate shrugs and turns back to the screen. "I just thought I'd give you warning in case you bump into them," he says and she immediately feels bad for thinking that he was telling her this to get a rise out of her or make her upset. Its Nate of course he wouldn't have a malicious reason for the things he says.

* * *

Dan comes to see her two days later, it's one of the few times Nate is busy and not helping her rearrange the furniture in her apartment for the thousandth time. It's late when she opens the door and she's expecting Nate so she's wearing cut off shorts and an oversized T-shirt, no makeup and her hair thrown untidily into a bun atop her head.

"Hey," Dan says from the door and Serena blinks and nods at him, not trusting herself to speak. "Lily told me where you lived so I urm … I came to see you."

Serena walks back to the couch she was trying to move and stands behind it. "Well you saw me," she says coldly, dragging the couch backward.

"Here let me help you," he says taking a step forward and Serena turns and glares at him and he immediately stops and holds his hands up in surrender. "Or I'll just stand here while you move it."

"Why are you here Dan?" Serena asks giving up on rearranging the furniture and huffs out an annoyed breath.

"I … well," he started, pausing for a moment to scratch his head where his hair seemed to have grown even bigger over the summer. "I broke up with Blair or we decided to end things together, it wasn't working."

Serena waited for the feeling to come, the one that would make her smile wide and jump into his arms so they could ride off into the sunset together like in that ridiculously romantic movie she watched with Nate the night before. It didn't come though, the only thing she felt was anger, anger at him for only coming to her when he and Blair were over, for never caring when he had someone in his life and suddenly wanting her when he was alone.

"I thought we could go out for dinner or something," he said nervously. "Talk about what happened that night."

Serena doesn't say anything, she just stands there and stares at him, for a moment she can see what she loved about him but all the bad traits that she overlooked before was glaring at her now and she could barely be in the same room as him without feeling the need to scream.

"We could just go for a walk if you aren't hungry," he said trying again when she said nothing.

Serena scoffs and rolls her eyes. "I cannot believe that you think you can just waltz back into my life and pretend that you haven't treated me like crap in the past few months while you chased after Blair and used me to get to her," Dan opens his mouth but Serena starts talking again so he shuts it again. "Did you _honestly _think that I would jump into your arms and everything would be fine again?"

"Well no, look Serena I just wanted to apologize for that night," he said defensively, trying to cover up for his eagerness to take her out a minute before and Serena clenched her jaw, her hands forming fists in an effort to stay calm. "I didn't mean to lead you on then or now."

"Get out," Serena said surprising herself with how calm she was.

"I'm sorry?" Dan said clearly not expecting her to kick him out. "I was trying to be nice Serena."

"I want you out of my apartment, I don't care what you wanted just leave now," Serena said walking toward the door and holding it open.

"Blair was right about you," Dan muttered as he walked out loud enough for Serena to hear, she slammed the door shut and knocked her head against it.

It was late when Nate finally made it back to the Empire, he'd normally drop his bag of in his room, change out of his formal wear and go check on Serena and keep her company, he didn't expect her to be sitting on his bed when he entered his room. He barely opened his mouth when she launched herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and sobbing into his shoulder.

He was about to ask her what happened when she told him that Dan had been visited her, he rubbed circles on her back and tried very hard not to remember the night on Bart's party when he saw her in the bathroom looking so broken and empty because of Dan.

"Ok I've got an idea," Nate said after she calmed down. "Ice-cream _and_ the beach, you look like you need it."

The request was so random that Serena felt herself bursting with surprised giggles at Nate's idea. "Why not?"

"Come on," Nate said laughing with her, taking of his blazer going to change.

* * *

She managed to avoid Blair and Dan for the rest of summer miraculously, she wasn't sure if Chuck had as well but in the talks he had with both Nate and Serena he didn't mention seeing the ex-couple, he only spoke of his plans to keep the Empire and build his own legacy completely free of his father. The blonds were glad he was so driven and he's putting so much of effort into something he really cared about, something that made him happy but they weren't sure whether they should worry about his lack of interest in Blair or anything other than work.

"I don't think we should really worry about him yet," Nate told her when she visited him at work. "I mean don't get me wrong I'm also a little worried about his indifference of Blair being back and being single but he's dealing in a not destructive way and for now that's good, when he starts getting destructive then we have to start worrying because usually only Blair can pull him out of those."

"I guess you're right," Serena said and Nate smiled and gave her an 'of course I am' look. Serena reached across the desk and playfully punched him. "It's very rare that you are right so you should bask in this glorious moment."

Nate pouted and Serena tried not to laugh at him. The door to his office opened and his secretary walked in shooting them apologetic smiles. "The layouts you wanted just came," she said handing Nate a file. "And so did this invite."

"Thank you Tina," Nate said and Tina nodded at him before walking out again. Nate looked at the envelope and frowned sparking Serena's interest.

"What does it say?" she asked, leaning forward so she could look at whatever he was looking at. "Nate?"

"It says that I am cordially invited to Dan's launch party for his second book," Nate said handing her an envelope and putting what she assumed was Chucks in his briefcase.

"Wow, second book already," Serena said stuffing her invitation into her bag without looking at it again.

"There's a note attached saying that the characters are not based on any of us," Nate said and Serena giggled. "Well that's good to know."

"Speaking of Dan," Serena said biting her lip and looking down at her fingers. "I think I'm finally over him, I mean he's been in town for a while and I haven't felt like going after him and after our talk I just get a bad feeling when I think of him."

Nate chuckled and shook his head at her but raised his hand so she could high-five him. "We'll see at the party tomorrow night, yes you do have to come."

Serena groaned but nodded saying a quick bye to Nate and letting him get back to his work while she went buy a dress.

* * *

She entered the ballroom where the party was taking place hesitantly, she convinced herself that she was over Dan but she did love him at some point and she knew how fast feelings came rushing back, it happened at the worst times.

"So I was thinking," Nate said beside her and she jumped because where did he come from? "What if you come and work at the Spectator again, I know people are still interested in your life, I've gotten enough emails about it."

"This is sudden," Serena said raising an eyebrow, he hadn't said anything about her blog since he fired her.

"I've actually been thinking about it for a while but I needed to wait until Diana was completely removed from anything to do with the Spectator before I could make my own decisions, hopefully the next sponsor will be more accommodating," he said and Serena smiled.

"Sure, I've been getting bored anyway," she said and Nate laughed because he knew how bored she was. "I don't think I can rearrange the furniture in any other way."

"I'm pretty sure you can't," Nate said and she made a face. "I'm going to talk to Chuck are you coming?"

"I'll see you later, I want to see if I really did make any progress this summer," Serena told him shrugging and Nate nodded and touched her shoulder, he knew how important it was for her to really be over Dan, she needed to prove to herself that she doesn't want or need him.

"Good luck," he said before disappearing into the crown to find Chuck.

Dan finds her barely a minute after Nate leaves. "You two are becoming really close lately," he said handing her a champagne flute.

"We're friends," Serena said pointedly. "Congratulations on the new book, this is quite a turnout."

"Serena, I want to apologize for the other day I didn't mean to ambush you like I did," he said and Serena nodded. "When I was writing this book I realized that I haven't been treating you the way I should."

"I'm glad you realized that," Serena said biting her lip and looking away from him. "Is that all?"

"No," he said touching her elbow to guide her to the benches for them to sit. "I also realized that you love me and I do love you, very much in fact, that night was a sign that we are drawn to each other and that we always will be."

Serena almost scoffed at him but instead she straightened her back and pressed her lips together to stop anything from spilling out.

"I know you still feel something so I was wondering if you wanted to try again," he said smiling. "I know you have a lot of issues to work through but I'm willing to help you work through them."

Serena blinked a few times rapidly her mouth opening and closing as she tried to come up with a response to his accusation that she had issues and he was going to help her work through them. "I'm sorry?"

"Well I'll help you deal with everything that happened with Blair and I," he said still smiling that 'I'm a new Upper East Sider' smile. "Of course since I have this new book I'm pretty much as famous as you are maybe even more so, all the problems we had before are now evened out, I know it will take time to get used to but I'm sure it won't be too difficult."

Serena sat there staring at him with a blank look, she had absolutely no idea how to respond to anything coming out of his mouth, he was trying to act like he was suddenly higher than her and she would have to get used to his new status like she hoped he could the second time they tried dating before their senior year.

"Did you lose your voice or something?" he asked her and she shook her head. "Speechless then?"

"No," she finally said shaking her head because what the hell was going through his mind, it's like his ego has all of a sudden become bigger than his hair.

"So if you aren't speechless…"

"No, I mean no to the offer of getting back together," she said and he gaped at her because in his mind there was no way she would ever turn him down. She was speechless but not for any of the reason's he thought. "I've got to go."

Serena got up and walked away, trying really hard not to just run so she could get away from him faster. It was official, Serena van der Woodsen was over Dan Humphrey. In her haste she didn't see where she was going and bumped right into Blair, the shorter girl simply shook it off and shot a look at her former best friend as she smoothed down the shirt of her dress.

"Serena," she said her tone giving of more of an annoyed feeling instead of the hatred and anger Serena was expecting.

"Blair," Serena returned, not sure if she should continue the conversation or not. After a few moments of silence she realized that she missed her chance to say anything and she turned to walk away.

"Serena wait," Blair said and Serena turned back to Blair with hopeful eyes. "I'm not forgiving you but I want to apologize for what I did. I knew how you felt about Dan just like I knew how you felt about Nate, so I guess this makes us even."

For the second time that night Serena was left speechless, so instead of spoiling the truce Blair had offered she just smiled and nodded at the brunette. "I'm sorry too," Serena said. "I shouldn't have hurt you like that."

Blair smiled at her before turning and walking away and Serena felt giddy, of course she didn't have her friendship back with Blair yet, she was sure she'd have to work really hard to get it back but it was a step toward it. Serena was smiling when she found Nate, she grabbed his hand and pulled him into the first room she could closing the door and jumping into his arms.

"Wow, what happened," he asked shocked, he'd been on his way to find Dan and congratulate him on his second book when Serena caught him.

"It's over, I feel nothing for Dan," she said in such a high pitched voice that Nate thought she was going to squeak. "And that's not all, Blair spoke to me without wanting to murder me."

"That's awesome S," he said holding her at arm's length and laughing at her huge smile and excitement.

"I know," she said almost jumping on the spot. "Thank you for getting me here Nate, I wouldn't have been able to get over Dan or even speak to Blair if it wasn't for you."

Nate closed his eyes and nodded for a second and then looked back at her with a smile on his face. Serena jumped back into his arms but this time she kissed him, holding his face between her hands. Nate automatically gripped her hips, holding her close to him. "What was that for?" he asked when she pulled away.

Serena shrugged and bit on her lip because she really couldn't come up with a reason for what she just did, it was instinct, it was Nate.

"You realize we are in an empty bar right?" Nate asked and Serena giggled.

"Let's find a bottle of Champagne," she said.

* * *

It would be years before they found themselves at a wedding giggling in an empty bar again, Serena twirling on the counter, the afternoon light reflecting off her golden hair and her flowing dress. His hands grabbing at her ankles to get her of the counter and hand him the champagne bottle so he could open it. He knew where this was leading, he knew as soon as she asked him if he wanted to steal a bottle of champagne and find an empty room.

Nate laughed as she finally sat down on the counter in front of him giggling like crazy because she was dizzy from all the twirling. Nate was laughing with her because she was Serena and he couldn't not laugh when she did, he popped open the bottle and champagne went spilling all over, Serena screamed and moved her dress away from the liquid.

"I swear that never happens to me," Nate said looking down at the mess and Serena giggled moving of the counter and onto his lap, taking the bottle and placing it next to them.

"It's ok, you're still a man in my eyes," she said touching his cheeks and tilting her head to the side. "You're a mess," she whispered solemnly, her lips almost touching his.

"So are you," he said closing the almost non-existent gap between them to kiss her, all laughter gone and now it was just them in one of the most passionate kisses they'd shared, his hands going into her hair and hers under his shirt. "Your dress is white, it's going to get stained and people are going to know what we were doing."

"You're my husband, let them think it," Serena rolled her eyes and undid the zip at the side letting the dress fall in a heap on the floor away from the mess they created so it didn't get damaged. "That makes it so much easier," she said wrapping her legs around his waist.

Nate shook his head and kissed her again, letting the lace of her undergarments engrave itself onto his fingertips like it did so many years ago. "I think we started the honeymoon early," he said after throwing his tie in the direction of their other clothes and Serena giggled as she unbuttoned his shirt.

"Stop talking and make love to me," she whispered, her lips back on his before he could make another sound.

Nate reached up and took her left hand in his, bringing it up to his lips to kiss the silver ring that matched his. This was their wedding, their day and they would start their lives the way they started their insanely complicated romance when they were fifteen.

When they get out of the room, Blair (Serena's maid of honor) will glare at them but then just laugh because she should have known they would pull something like this, Chuck (Nate's best man) will joke that he missed it but he saw them the first time and Serena and Nate will straighten out their clothes to look at presentable as possible before saying bye to their guests and leaving on their honeymoon, Nate will spin Serena before they get into the car and kiss her in the streets of Manhattan for the first time as his wife, Serena will wink at him and wave to their family before pulling Nate into the limo so they could get to the airport.

But right now it's just the two of them in an empty bar with champagne and lace and kisses, proving how much they love each other, it's their love story coming full circle and nothing will ever touch it again.

* * *

**Ok so I'm going to do a little ranting after this if you dont want to see my thoughts I dont blame you but I just felt like I had to share it with you, so if you arent interested then stop reading after the smily face.**

**This story was written after I watched the promo for the finale of season 5, I was doing some really angry typing in the begining becasue I was just pissed of with all the writers and charaters but after a while i forgot about being angry and just developed this into an NS story to save my shipper heart**

**If the DS scene happens the way I think it will then I dont think I can watch the show anymore, I dont even know if I want to keep writing for it but we'll see how it goes because I love the Nate and Serena relationship even if the GG writers forget that it existed, I cant...**

**anyway if you want to see my rant keep reading otherwise thank you for reading this story and please review, hopefully I will write again soon (^^,)**

**So in the promo I saw, Serena and Dan get drunk and have sex on a barstool and I wanted to gauge my eyes out because that is Nate and Serena's sacred scene or something, it was the reason most people started shipping NS, it was the begining of Gossip Girl basically and these writers have absolutely no respect for it if the scene plays out like it did in the pilot because it's destroying one of the main scenes for NS shippers and its insulting the DS shippers becasue they are redoing an NS scene**

**I was really depressed and angry after I watched, I literally just started typing and I wrote the first half of this fic and then I decided to make it longer than what it was just to save NS for me and to hope that Nate and Serena do actually end up together. I read that this could be a dream sequence for either Serena or Dan and if it is I still can't understand the way it was filmed, its so close to the pilot with the exception of the guy involved**

**I honestly wouldnt have cared as much if they brought DS back on the show but they are bringing it back in the way that totally destroys NS, ****Ok I think I'm gonna stop now**

**I love the NJBC but lately I've been centering alot around Nate Serena and Chuck becasue I've never liked Dan and Blair just took herself out of the group when she chose Dan so thats my reason plus I totally love Serena and Nate and Chuck are the most perfect things ever**

**Anyway please review this story and let me know your thoughts, thank you for reading my rant hehe here's to hoping that next weeks episode isnt as bad as it is in my mind **


End file.
